More particularly, the invention relates to a method of processing a stream of data comprising audio data exchanged over a network between a server and at least one telephone terminal, the stream of data corresponding to a telephone call from the terminal during which a user has produced at least one event, the method comprising:
a step a) consisting in extracting from the data stream corresponding to each telephone call audio data corresponding to each event; and
a step b) consisting in executing at least one task relating to the extracted audio data and executable by a software application.
Such prior art methods enable a telephone terminal and a server to communicate via a switched telephone network that may be public or private, fixed or mobile. By way of example, they correspond to the methods that are well known under the acronym IVR (interactive voice response).
For example, such methods enable information to be delivered in voice form to a user, or they enable operations to be controlled remotely from instructions given by the user in the form of audio data, such as voice commands or sounds generated when the user presses keys on the keypad of the telephone terminal (a method known under the acronym DTMF for “dual tone multi-frequency”).
By means of this type of method, a user can consult a bank balance, or stock prices, and can consult or leave messages in a voice box, etc., for example.
During the telephone call, a data stream is generated from the telephone terminal. This data stream comprises, for example: identity (ID) data identifying the user, together with data corresponding to sounds issued by the user as picked up by the microphone of the telephone terminal, or as generated by pressing keys of the terminal. Amongst these sounds, some correspond to audio data characteristic of particular events.
When the audio data is identified by a suitable server, a program executes the corresponding task. For example, when the user utters the word “delete” that corresponds to an event that is intended, in a given context, to run the task that corresponds to deleting a message in a voice box.
In prior art methods, and in particular in the method described in document EP 1 175 074, computer programs corresponding to IVR applications are developed in special-purpose languages such as TCL (for tool command language), or require the use of interpreters such as VXML (for voice extensible markup language), etc. Such programs are all dedicated exclusively to voice applications, they are written exclusively in one such language, and the databases compatible with such programs are specific to those voice applications.